JEDDAH: One of the pilgrims who has been missing since the stampede happened in Mina on Thursday is Mufti Mohammed Farooq, a senior religious scholar from Meerut, India. He is in mid-60s.

“He is a very prominent religious scholar who often travels the world spreading the peaceful message of Islam. He has been missing for several days and his family in India and many of his students and well-wishers from across the world, including in South Africa, the United Kingdom, Canada and the US, are extremely worried and anxious about his well being,” said Mufti Javed Iqbal, imam of a mosque in Birmingham, UK.

He added that Mufti Mohammed Farooq has dedicated his life to serving Islam. He is also the founder and principal of Jamia Mahmoodia in Meerut, India, which has been running for over 25 years and has over 700 students on its roll. “He is a prolific writer and authored over 50 extremely beneficial books on a range of subjects, including Hadith and Fiqh, in Urdu and Hindi,” he said.

“We are fervently praying for his safe return and calling on anyone who may know of where he is to contact the following Saudi number at the earliest 0500150039,” he added.

Meanwhile, Aboobucker Abdul Azeez and Roshan Hara Abdul Azeez from Sri Lanka have also been missing since Thursday.

“If anyone knows about their whereabouts, they can call on +94-773292753/+94777349717,” said Jishan Kassim on Twitter.